Graduate Research

Chad Niman, UK FNR Master’s Degree Student

Chad Niman is leading a project to provide the bourbon industry with information to improve the efficiency of barrel production.

The department, in collaboration with industry partners, is undertaking an applied research project at UK’s Wood Utilization Center to provide information on drying dynamics for white oak barrel staves and treatments to reduce defect development. This project is designed to provide detailed data and results to fill existing knowledge gaps that industries can use to improve stave yield. The ultimate goal of this investigation is to extend white oak resources and assist the competitiveness of cooperage industries.

Given that white oak barrels are the most expensive “ingredient” in bourbon production, the efficient use of white oak is critical.

William Wittenbraker, UK FNR Master’s Degree Student (far right)

After serving almost 24 years in the U.S. Army and owning a business, William Wittenbraker returned to school to earn his associate’s degree in arts from Elizabethtown Community College and his bachelor of science degree in forestry from the University of Kentucky. During his undergraduate studies, Dr. Jian Yang, associate professor of forest landscape ecology, instilled in him an excitement for landscape ecology, with a particular interest in woody invasive species and how they could interact with a combined disturbance.

Wittenbraker’s field of study examines how combined disturbances and woody invasive species act on a landscape scale. He is working to determine if disturbances adjacent to each other—in this case, strip mining and timber harvesting—cause a greater prevalence and abundance than a single disturbance event.

The research Wittenbraker is conducting in Robinson Forest will ultimately contribute to a greater understanding of how a landscape can be a driving force for woody invasive species and a surrounding forest.